TEE DOLPHINS. 93 
SECTION DI.— THE WHITEFISH, OR WHITE WHALE. 
Beluga, n. sp. ? (Plate xviii, fig. 1.) 
Our opportunities for observing this beautiful member of the Dolphin family 
have been as follows : In the Okhotsk Sea, along the coast of Eastern Siberia, 
during the summer of 1862 ; in Plover Bay (latitude 64° 26' north, longitude 
173° 07' west), September, 1865; in the same place and month, 1866; and in 
Norton Sound, September, 1865. 
Before entering into the details of its habits and the mode of its capture, we 
will briefly describe this inhabitant of the far north, as we have seen it, westward 
of the Pacific American shores ; and whose haunts also include the Arctic Ocean, 
and the seas of Okhotsk and Behring. The animal, which is distinguished by its 
uniform light soft hue at maturity, resembles the Leucorhamphus Peronii in its sym- 
metry of upper contour. Its linear dimensions average perhaps thirteen feet ; 
although the largest ones considerably exceed that length. Its head is small ; its 
prominent forehead being protected with a fatty cushion similar to that of the 
Blackfish. Its short oval and fleshy pectorals are placed more than one -fifth of the 
length of the whole animal from its muzzle, giving that portion between the head 
proper and the fins the appearance of a true neck. The opening of its mouth is 
contracted and curved upward. Both upper and lower jaws are furnished with 
sharp conical teeth, and among the adults the dental formula? may be put down at 
V Vj or eleven teeth on each side of the upper jaw, and eight on each side of the 
lower one. Its diminutive eyes are but little larger than those of the Common Por- 
poise. The minute orifices which constitute the ears are covered with a sort of 
scale that quite conceals them. Its spiracle is situated a little behind the angle 
of the eye. The body is full, and tapers rather abruptly toward the caudal fin, 
which is broad, and in expansion exceeds that of the Orca, or Globiocephalus. The 
color of the adults is invariably a yellowish white, while the very young are of a 
leaden or bluish black ; but as these mature they become mottled, and eventually 
assume the soft cream -like tinge of the parent animal. This species of the Dolphin 
family is very rapid in its motions, and its swiftness is brought into full play when 
in pursuit of the numerous varieties of fishes along the sea shores or up the rapid 
rivers. When making prey of such bottom fish as the flounder and halibut, it 
often darts into shallows where it can hardly float ; but, like the California Gray, 
in this respect, it evinces no alarm at its situation, and makes but little effort to 
reach a greater depth. The White Whale, like all others of this family, is fond 
